The event: There was a time when meeting up with the girls automatically meant heading for a session in the local wine bar.' says Katie. 'These days, with young kids to consider, boozy nights out are rare, but that doesn't mean we've lost our taste for vino. So, gathering a few friends at my house with the sole purpose of tasting wine got everyone excited.

The aim wasn't to drink ourselves under the table, though our wine expert, Chris Scott from ThirtyFifty, was pleasingly relaxed about the "no swallowing" rule.

'He arrived with eight good-quality wines and talked us through each one - the flavours and smells, the differences between wines from different parts of the world, and which wines go best with what food.

'Beforehand, there had been a few grumbles that a wine-tasting evening might be dull and pompous, but Chris made it really great fun and seemed unfazed as we girls grew more rowdy as the evening went on. We particularly enjoyed his test to find out which one of us was a "supertaster", which involved dying our tongues blue and then counting each others' tastebuds through a magnifying glass.

'The tasting lasted a good two hours and we learned loads, while having a really good girlie night. Plus, we were delighted that Chris left the remaining wine for us to polish off...purely for tasting practice, of course.'

The menu: 'I was concerned about strong flavours getting in the way of the wine, so I spoke to Chris beforehand and he assured me that we wouldn't have to munch on water biscuits all night. So I made up a big cheeseboard with fruit, bread and crackers.

The verdict: 'I was worried it all might be a bit grown-up,' said Caroline, 'but it was fun. I loved Chris' tips on how to tell the quality of a wine by counting teh seconds the taste lasts in your mouth - the longer, the more expensive. It's a good way to tell how much your wine in a restaurant is really worth too!'

'I already knew a bit about wine, but having an expert on hand to ask questions was really great,' said Jennifer.

'I was so relieved that the evening went well,' said Katie. 'And we all agreed doing something a bit different would ensure we'd meet up more often.'